Meanwhile, outside of Christie’s Rockefeller Center salesroom, Jeff Koons’s 10-foot-tall “Balloon Dog (Orange)” has become something of a celebrity, as passers-by take turns being photographed with the mirror-polished pooch, posting their images on Twitter and Instagram. The seller, Mr. Brant, hopes to raise $35 million to $55 million, which he says he plans to use to build an endowment for his Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, Conn.

“I think the ‘Balloon Dog’ is really a symbol like the Trojan horse, something kind of mythic,” Mr. Koons has said.

It takes slightly more skill to make one in blown glass than it does with party balloons, especially of that size. That being said, you couldn't pay me to own it (kinda like AT&T) much less me pay to own it.